Naan is a type of flatbread traditionally made in Central and South Asia and now enjoyed worldwide, especially as an accompaniment to Indian foods, such as curries. It is made from a leavened dough that is flattened and baked in a cylindrical or urn-shaped oven known as a tandoor.
A traditional tandoor consisted of a clay baking layer encased in a masonry or earth housing. An insulating layer of sand was provided between the clay layer and the housing. The tandoor was heated by charcoal or wood burned in the bottom of the baking chamber.
To bake naan breads in a traditional tandoor, pieces of flattened dough were slapped by hand or baking pad onto the extremely hot inside walls of the oven. A hook was used to remove the baked naan after a short baking time.
The basic process for baking naan has not changed for centuries. Modern tandoor ovens use different materials (such as steel housings and ceramic interiors) and different heating options (such as electric heating elements or gas burners). However, the basic shape of the tandoor, and the vertical wall-based baking process have not changed.
In spite of improvements in materials, many purists believe that there is no substitute for the flavour imparted by baking naan with a traditional stone or clay oven. However, the traditional tandoor design has a number of drawbacks—material issues and poor safety.
Naan must be baked at very high temperatures to impart the sultry smoky characteristic that is its signature. Clay ovens, in particular, are known to crack under prolonged exposure to high heat. Cracks can cause the traditional sand fill that is used to insulate the oven to leak into the baking chamber, potentially getting into the food. It is seldom possible to effectively patch a clay oven once it cracks. Accordingly, it becomes necessary at regular intervals to replace a tandoor oven.
Traditional baking methods are also dangerous even for skilled operators. The inside of the tandoor oven reaches temperatures often in excess of 700° F. (370° C.). In order to slap the raw naan dough onto the inside walls of the tandoor, the operator must stick a portion of his arm into the oven. Any slight contact with the walls of the tandoor can result in severe burns. The top openings of the oven are often relatively small (approximately 1-2 ft across, or approximately 30-60 cm), increasing the difficulty to maneuver the bread into place without contacting the oven surfaces.
In a traditional tandoor, a baker can only bake a small number of naan at a time due to the small size of most tandoor ovens and due to the quick baking process requiring constant human involvement and attention. Consequently, a tandoor operator bakes a steady stream of tiny batches of breads for “à la minute” serving and consumption.
However, these traditional naan baking processes do not lend themselves readily to larger commercial scale production. Accordingly, naan is largely considered a bread for restaurant consumption, and not a food purchased to consume at home. Home cooks, unless they have access to a tandoor, are not likely to be able to enjoy hot naan bread with a meal. Methods of cooking naan in an electric or gas home oven have been suggested, but such methods are generally considered to produce an inferior product as home ovens are simply not hot enough to mimic a tandoor.
A need therefore exists for a method of preparing naan that allows for commercial-scale production, using safe modern equipment, without sacrificing the traditional flavour and texture of a tandoor-baked naan.